Having worked for various London Bus garages all I can say is this. The problem with TfL is that it’s not run by the people who knew what they were doing. The mayor calls the shots and when a contract is drawn up; an operator has 5 years to prove itself on a particular route. The business model is very good, as there’s a lot that is based around passenger feedback, they call it complaints but the general public have been complaining for years in London.
Operators are stretched, where I live which is close to E garage, has lost a lot of work lately, just because of performance; not their fault but TfL only see the data from iBus and make their decision, they don’t investigate thoroughly, they put garages under pressure with spot check style audits like what the police do, and this pressure isn’t helping controller or driver. Recent win of the 191 is because GAL gave up trying to run it with Enfield’s constant roadworks.
TfL is not the same entity it was before 2000 when it was London Transport. It’s trying to appease everyone and it’s not working; councils are doing what they like and making it difficult for the passengers; especially Enfield. Enfield has wasted the tax payers money on 6foot wide cycle lanes making the road smaller therefore harder for buses to get between top of Turkey Street down to Tottenham. 279 had help, 149 and 259, they cut them back to Edmonton Green due to traffic congestion.
Before Uber, buses ran a lot better; now they’re fighting with tons of private hire firms, Ola, Pipt and many others.
Sorry for those who aren’t local residents but these councils in London are making the tiny roads in London even smaller, Sadiq Khan isn’t helping, as he made the buses free during Lockdown, rear door boarding. TfL lost millions. Operators have the money, but TfL is a public body.
Simply they didn’t think it through, the reason for iBus is because TfL lost a hefty sum when the subsidiaries went fully private, and the reports from garages were so bad they decided to implement a monitoring system which gives the team of 4 that monitor all 800 or so of London’s bus routes. It’s a real mess, compared to the provinces